Thursday, February 15, 2007

There is no smaller package in the world...

There is no smaller package in the world that that of a person all wrapped up in himself.

-William Sloane Coffin

I began to wonder if fighting fire with fire...

I began to wonder if fighting fire with fire didn't just leave more ashes.

-William Sloane Coffin

Sacrifice in and of itself confers no sanctity...

Sacrifice in and of itself confers no sanctity.

William Sloane Coffin

The primary problems of the planet arise not from the poor...

The primary problems of the planet arise not from the poor, for whom education is the answer; they arise from the well-educated, for whom self-interest is the problem.

-William Sloane Coffin

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

An eye for an eye is about limiting vengeance...

An eye for an eye is about limiting vengeance. You can only take an eye out for an eye; you may not kill someone for knocking out your eye. It means restraining tribal violence.

-Karen Armstrong

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

When you grow up on fantasy, you grow old in brutality...

I recall a line from William Butler Yeats that when you grow up on fantasy, you grow old in brutality. Fantasy is fine as a vacation, but when it becomes the bulk of our daily diet I fear that we no longer know the difference between fantasy and reality - and that breeds brutality.

-John Dominic Crossan

Monday, February 05, 2007

The centrality of our mission is to love each other...

... the centrality of our mission is to love each other. That means caring for our neighbors. And this does not mean bickering about the fine points of doctrine.

-Katharine Jefferts Schori